Chapter 78: Bellwood Meets The Thing

Not gonna lie, this chapter almost didn't get out on time. My classes are a lot more intensive, and I had a bunch of exams to study for the last two weeks. Not to mention I had to quit my job so I could pass my classes. Problem was I couldn't quit right on the spot; since it was a campus job, I had to continue working there for two weeks after I told them I was leaving so that they could find someone to replace me. If I did quit right then and there, I would have been blacklisted from a lot of campus jobs in the future. Not to mention my mom's getting surgery on her leg. It's a normal procedure, but that doesn't make the fact that my mom's going under the knife any less worrisome.

Long story short, I had to rush to get this chapter out on time, so it's not my best work. Sorry in advance.

Ben really should have been used to running for his life. Perhaps it was the fact that it hadn't been happening recently, so he had become lax. He had more super powered friends to watch his back, so it wasn't like just anyone could get a hit on him anymore. Not to mention that he wasn't ten years old anymore. He'd grown up, and was stronger and smarter, and perhaps more confident in himself and his abilities.

Perhaps that was what left him in surprise when a ruthless bounty hunter set his sights after him.

Spidermonkey flipped and swung through the air, dodging the tall buildings of Bellwood. He felt like a certain Marvel superhero, and he would have normally reveled in that fact, but he was too busy trying to shake off the crazy guy with the oversized axe. He quickly jumped over a Mr. Smoothie billboard and landed behind it. His back hit the board, and he panted heavily, his lungs begging for oxygen and rest.

But then the axe slid through the metal, and the billboard collapsed, nearly taking Spidermonkey out with it. The blue alien coughed from the smoke, and stared in horror at the monster chasing him, the gray skinned alien in black and red armor.

"The Omnitrix," he demanded. "Where is it?"

Spidermonkey shot a web blast from his tail right into the bounty hunter's face. He was temporarily knocked off course, his hovercraft tipping dangerously to the side as he struggled to get the substance off his face.

Spidermonkey quickly launched himself off the rooftop and latched onto the side of another building. "Green watch thingy?" he asked back. "Hourglass symbol? Turns you into all kinds of super powered aliens?"

The hunter got the gunk off his face. "Yes!"

"Nnnnever heard of it!" the monkey said cheekily. And then he cried out in shock as the hunter slammed his axe into the building. Spidermonkey barely dodged it, and when he went scrambling upwards, the cracks fell away and he barely jumped off that deathtrap in time.

As Spidermonkey ran on all of his legs, the hunter followed him and snarled, "Don't toy with me, I know you have the Omnitrix!" He held out a tablet. "I have traced its energy here with this!"

"Cool!" Spidermonkey crowed, sending a string of web at the device and plucking it from the hunter's hand. "Where'd you get it?"

The hunter quickly slashed the web apart and took back his tablet. "I am Sunder, finder of rare and precious objects!" he bellowed triumphantly as he chased his prey around the rooftops. It seemed like he could go on forever doing that, but then he sent a net at the blue monkey and instantly ensnared him. Spidermonkey tumbled down the side of the building he was running on, landing painfully in the alley below.

Whimpering, Spidermonkey could barely lift his head as the bounty hunter loomed over him, the hum of his hovercraft drowning out the sounds of the streets nearby. "Seriously," he said, trying to cover up the tremble in his voice, "you carry an axe and your name is Sunder? Well, I guess that's no worse than-!" He hit the disc on his chest.

"HUMUNGUOSAUR!" The red net tore apart, and the dinosaur took one look at Sunder. The hunter leaned back, holding his axe defensively over his torso.

But then there was a strange beeping, and Humungousaur gasped. There was a flash of bright light and suddenly instead of a menacing dinosaur alien, there was a teenage boy. "O…kay," Ben said, suddenly very worried.

Sunder flew to the ground, and Ben took a few steps back. He stepped off his hovercraft, the sounds of his boots hitting the pavement bouncing off the walls. Grinning, the bounty hunter said, "The Omnitrix will fetch me a handsome price."

Ben smirked, one last trick up his sleeve. Holding up his arm, he crowed, "Lots of luck getting it off my wrist!"

Briefly Sunder looked worried, but then his malicious grin came back with a vengeance. Hefting his giant axe over his head, he declared, "I'll worry about the details later."

The axe swung down- bright red light- the blade bruising tender flesh- a horrified scream echoing through the alley-

Ben. Wake up.

…Was it all a dream?

I wish.

Hard packed dirt was grazing his cheek. His eyes struggled to open themselves, and he groaned as he lifted himself into a kneeling position. Rubbing at his eyes, he finally opened them and took in the sight of a blood red sky and floating asteroids.

The Null Void.

"Goddammit, how'd I get here?" Ben swore through gritted teeth.

Sunder, the god in his head said flatly.

Okay, yeah, I figured, but how'd he do it?

I'm guessing his axe. Don't know where he got the tech for that.

Do you know how I can get out of here?

Nope, Ventus said, popping the 'p.' Not to mention something's screwing with the Omnitrix. I can sense some sort of interference.

But the only person who knows how to do that is-

There was a low, animalistic scream, and Ben's head shot up. As he got off his knees, he saw some sort of green monster with scorpion-like legs running towards him. The thing shouted again, revealing vile green spit and foul teeth.

"Okay, questions later," Ben said, his decision made. Acting on instinct, he lifted his hand up. "Right now it's time to… go…."

His hand slowly fell down. His jaw dropped.

His hand was missing.

The Omnitrix was missing.

His hand with the Omnitrix on it was missing.

But instead of seeing pink muscle and white bone, there was a white plate covering the wound, an aura of red seeping from it. Ben stared at it for another moment, his mouth moving but no words falling out.

And then he glared at it. "Well this is just fan-tucking-fastic."

Meanwhile

Evan took off his glasses and rubbed at his eyes. Stifling a yawn, he waited until Gwen got her drink and idly stirred his iced coffee with one hand. Or, more like coffee-flavored milkshake. Either way, there was enough sugar in it to send him into a coma.

"So, are we leaving?" Gwen asked as she walked over, Styrofoam cup in hand. Unlike him, she was drinking actual coffee, dark and bitter, just like Evan's heart.

He stood up and stretched, his hair free of his usual ponytail and settling itself past his shoulder blades. Grabbing his drink, he said, "Yeah, let's get out of here."

Outside the coffee shop, the afternoon sun gently beamed down at the sidewalk, a pleasant breeze wafting past them. The streets of Bellwood were full of people, all enjoying the fine summer day. Well, everyone except Evan, who failed to stifle a yawn this time.

"Rough night?" Gwen asked, quirking an eyebrow at him. She took in the pale skin and bloodshot eyes, taking special notice of the purple bruises under his eyes. As she quickly led him to a bench, she added, "I'm guessing swearing at twelve year olds on Call of Duty kept you up."

"I wish," he groaned, a hand over his face to keep the sun from his eyes. "I was actually up half the night working on homework."

She looked shocked as they sat down. "You? Doing homework over summer break? What is the world coming to?"

"Oh, ha, ha," Evan said flatly, glaring at her half-heartedly. "For your information, I'm actually taking an advanced math class next year."

"Well, you are a math person. I remember us bonding over Calculus."

Evan put a hand over his heart. "And that's the story of how you won my heart."

"Oh shut up," Gwen said, punching his shoulder while he stuck his tongue out at her. "But seriously, you don't seem the type of person who'd do their homework so early into summer break."

"It's been over two weeks since school let out," Evan pointed out. "I figured it was time to get started."

"How many pages is your homework, anyway?" She took a sip of her drink.

"It's a sixty page packet."

Gwen's eyebrows shot up. "Front and back?"

"Front and back."

She lightly clapped his shoulder. "How I pity you."

Evan groaned lightly. "You should. And I only got twenty pages in last night. It's a nightmare," he whimpered.

"That's the price you pay for taking an advanced course," Gwen told him bluntly.

He sighed. "At least I'm only taking the one. I honestly don't think I could handle anymore."

She rolled her eyes. "Stop whining. The classes in my school are all advanced, and you don't see me complaining."

"That's because you go to some fancy rich kid school," Evan shot back. "Your parents are paying for you to have a better education."

Gwen had to concede to that. "But that doesn't mean you can't take more advanced classes at your public school," she pointed out.

"Well, I could," Evan admitted hesitantly, "but that doesn't mean me or anyone else wants to. I mean, you only really need to take one honors or AP course a year for colleges to be interested in you. And a lot of kids in public school have part time jobs so they can pay for college tuition."

"That, and it looks good on a college application," Gwen noted as Evan gulped down some of his iced coffee. "But I mean, there are scholarships and grants."

"Yeah, but those tend to go to kids with 4.0 GPAs and who are a part of, like, a million sports and clubs," he explained. "Getting even a small scholarship isn't a guarantee. That's why so many kids get jobs; at least that way they have work experience and money saved up. And that's why it's a pain for most kids to take more than one advanced class. They just don't have the time and they don't want to worry about anything they can't guarantee."

Gwen gave him an appraising look. "For someone who grew up in the lap of luxury, you're amazingly well-informed."

Evan scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, well, I never actually went to any fancy private schools. The public schools I normally went to were top notch when it came to academics."

"Really? I would have thought…"

"Yeah, a lot of people do," Evan told her, shrugging his shoulders. "The same thing with Sam and Carter. We're used to it."

Gwen mulled that over, biting her lip. "Does a lot of your private school information come from Newt?"

"Well, yeah. Why do you ask?"

"He's got an extremely negative view on rich kids," she said bluntly.

Evan winced. "Yeah, he's judgmental. I mean, I love the guy like a brother, but he's just…"

"Yeah, I know," Gwen reassured him. Then she grew concerned. "How long has he been like that?"

Evan blew some hair out of his face. "Honestly? I don't know. He wasn't as bad as a kid, but after he hit middle school, things started going downhill. It doesn't help that a lot of kids at his high school are the type to waste their parents' money and look down on middle class students."

"So it was his environment that made him so critical," Gwen noted, putting her chin in her hand in a pensive position.

"If you grew up like he did, you'd be jaded too," Evan said honestly. "At least in his case, he does want to help change things, but he's an art student, not a politician like his brother."

She blinked. "Newt has a brother?"

He nodded. "Yeah, an older one. I think his name is Sebastian…?"

"You don't know?" Gwen asked incredulously.

"I haven't seen the guy in five years," he retorted. "And we were never close. Hell, Newt and his brother can't stand each other anyway."

She shook her head. "You guys are impossible."

"At least Sam and Todd got along…" Evan mumbled under his breath, sullenly gulping down his sugar coma of a drink.

Gwen eyed him curiously. "Todd…?"

His eyebrows shot up past his hairline, and he quickly asked, "So how are things with you and Phineas?"

Gwen raised an eyebrow at the abrupt subject change, but went along with it. "They're going well, I guess."

"Uh-oh, that doesn't sound good," Evan said, wincing. "Wanna talk about it?"

"No, no," she said hurriedly, "it's not like things are bad between us. He texts every now and then, and he's interested in what I'm studying, and I think he wants to help me with my magic but he doesn't know how to ask…"

"But…" Evan trailed off.

She sighed. "It's pretty obvious I'm not the favorite."

He put an arm over her shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. "Hey, you don't know that. He's making an effort, isn't he?"

Gwen huffed and put her head on his shoulder. "He is, but he really doesn't know how to connect with me. I mean, I'm giving him props for trying, but it's pretty obvious he favors Ben."

"Well, in both their defenses, you're Verdona's favorite," Evan pointed out.

"Wow, I feel so special," she said sarcastically. And then she sagged against him. "I don't mean it like that."

"I know," he agreed.

"It's just… Verdona cares and she obviously likes me, but she's also selfish, and I guess she thinks I'm making a mistake for wanting to stay on Earth," Gwen explained, closing her eyes. "And Phineas is pretty awkward and doesn't really know how to handle someone like me, but he makes an effort to get to know me. And he treats me like an adult, so that's a point in his favor," she added as an afterthought.

"When you say someone like you, what do you mean?" Evan had to ask.

She thought for a moment. "I guess someone who doesn't act her age and is used to depending on herself and few other people."

Evan mulled that over for a minute. "Well, you're not wrong," he said slowly. "I mean, the way you described yourself is pretty accurate. But I'm pretty sure Phineas grew up with similar personality traits, so it may be a case of looking in a mirror and not knowing how to react."

Gwen opened her eyes and peered up at him. "You think so?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess," Evan said, scratching his cheek. "I'm honestly not that close to Phineas, but I have heard a few things from my grandfather, so…"

"…huh," Gwen said, straightening her spine. "That makes me feel a little better, actually."

Evan smiled. "Glad I could help. But, now that I think about it, I don't think you're the un-favorite."

She quirked an eyebrow. "How so?"

"What about Ken?"

She stared at him incredulously. "Ken's not involved in any of this alien stuff!"

"Exactly. He's not involved; Phineas is," Evan pointed out. "Do you know if he made contact with his other grandson?"

Her mouth slowly fell open at the realization, right before she snapped it shut with an audible click. "I don't. And I kind of doubt he will at this point."

"See, you're not the un-favorite, you're just the…" he struggled for a word. "You're the middle child, I guess."

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Wow. I feel so much better."

"That's what I do."

"Dork," she snorted, before something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She turned to it, blinked once, twice, and stared. "Hey, Evan, how popular is The Addams Family?"

Evan started at the odd question. "Pretty popular, I guess. Why do you ask?"

She pointed to the left. "Do you think someone would create a robotic replica of The Thing?"

He gave her a look. "That's an amazingly specific question. Why are…you…?" He trailed off, his jaw dropping. Crawling right in front of them was a severed human hand, using its fingers to walk across the sidewalk and right past them. There was something eerily familiar about it…

"Is that the Omnitrix?" Gwen asked, bewildered.

"Oh my god," Evan cried out, watching it move. He gave a yelp of fright when Gwen suddenly jumped off the bench and threw aside her hot coffee.

"We need to follow it!" She took off running.

Evan gave a long-suffering groan and tossed his drink over his shoulder. "So much for a pleasant afternoon." With that, he ran after her.

Back to Ben

Ben flipped through the air, thankful for being such an acrobat. With practiced ease he did a three-point landing, his handless arm out in front of him. He gave a cold look at the creature about to kill him; it was down on the ground, looking up at the jagged hill Ben had landed on. It screamed again, green slobber dripping down its chin.

"Shut up!" Ben snarled, wildly looking around.

Ben, maybe you should let me handle this, Ventus told him urgently. You're in no condition to fight anything in the Null Void right now. I think it'd be best-

I can handle this! Ben grinned savagely as he spotted a loose boulder. Walking over to it, he spied the creature hungrily following after him. With a well-placed kick the boulder slid down the hill, rolling onto the monster and easily squashing it.

"Yes!" Ben cheered, holding his arm up into the air. And then he frowned and put it back down, remembering the fact that he couldn't find his hand. "Okay, this is weird, even for me."

Do you think it's still in Bellwood? Ventus asked curiously.

Probably, Ben thought. I mean, it could be somewhere in the Null Void, but I can feel granite, not space rock.

…You can feel your hand?

Yeah, I can feel pavement- or at least I think its pavement- and now I feel grass- okay, back to pavement-

Are… are you telling me your hand is on the move?

I… I think so?

There was a pregnant pause, and Ben worried that Ventus had left his head again. But then: Ben, I think your hand is trying to find help.

How do you know?

Gwen and Evan spotted it. They're going after it right now.

Ben gave a relieved sigh. Oh good, I'll be able to get out of here soon.

Hopefully. All I know for certain is that Sunder may be the only person to bring you back.

Are you fucking kidding me?!

Ventus snorted. I wish. Unless your grandpa left some Plumber tech here that you can use to get home. That's sort of a plan.

Suddenly Ben felt his arm jerk, and his body fell to the side. Quickly righting himself, Ben felt another tug on his handless arm and was forced to follow it. "What is going on?!" Ben cried out, stumbling over rock.

I'm guessing your hand has more control over your body than you…? Ventus thought helplessly. I don't know man, this is weird, and I've been around for a LONG time.

There was another growl echoing in the distance- no, make that two. Ben's blood froze, and he stopped in his tracks as he felt the ground shake.

Ben, more monsters! They're after you!

"This day just keeps getting better and better," he said in a small, exasperated voice. And then he turned tail and ran.

Back to Gwen (and Evan)

"Let go!" Evan snarled, his hand around the Omnitrix. The dog growled and tightened its grip on Ben's wrist.

Gwen watched them play tug of war for another few seconds before getting out a granola bar from her purse. The wrinkling of the foil alerted the dog, and its ears perked up as it let go of the watch. Evan fell back on his rear as the mutt bounded over to Gwen, who quickly fed him the treat.

"Of course you lose interest that easily," Evan mumbled bitterly. He took a look at the severed hand he was holding and stood up.

As the dog bounded away, Gwen asked, "So, what do we do now?"

Evan rubbed at his chin. "I'm pretty sure Kevin still has some Plumber tech we could use. I helped him stash it, so unless he sold it- what?" he asked when he caught the look Gwen was giving him.

"Why are you helping him hide Plumber tech?" She glared at him, hands on her hips.

He raised an eyebrow. "Because we might need it in the future. Like in situations like this." He waved around Ben's hand.

Gwen recoiled, a look of disgust etched on her face. "Pretty sure no one anticipated a situation like that."

Evan opened his mouth to retort back, then thought better of it. "Yeah, good point. This is weird, even for us."

Suddenly, electricity fizzled around Ben's fingers, snapping and sending sparks everywhere. Shrieking, Evan dropped it and backed away quickly. Gwen was no better, but she at least had the sense to put the hand in a pink protective sphere.

Lifting the sphere into the air, Gwen studied it. Despite the fact that it was hovering, the digits were still twitching, bursts of lightning hitting the walls of its prison, sending out cracks.

Gwen quickly refilled them, and then asked, "Is Ben still in control of his hand?"

"I guess so," Evan said hesitantly. "I mean, it's probably still connected to him, so if he uses his powers, then…"

"Then that means he's fighting something," Gwen realized, eyes wide.

Back to Ben

Three Vulpimancers. Ben was being chased by three Vulpimancers.

"You know, I used to be able to turn into one of you!" Ben called over his shoulder before diving into a swamp. The water was green and putrid, but the foul odor would mask his scent. Swimming behind a boulder, he popped his head out and took a breath. And then he listened.

The three Vulpimancers were sniffing for him. They were large and white with blue markings on their back. They were missing eyes, and their noses were indistinguishable from the rest of their faces. Large tongues trailed out before yellow fangs.

Ben, they're not gonna leave you alone, Ventus warned him. I think you should let me handle this.

No, wait, I got an idea. Ben gave another savage grin before smacking his arm against the water. There were three animalistic screams, and the Vulpimancers quickly trailed down towards the swamp.

What are you-?!

"'Sup uglies," Ben taunted as he climbed onto the rock he had been hiding behind. "Anyone ever tell you guys you have faces only a mother could love?"

Apparently someone had told them that, because they all snarled as they hit the water. They immediately advanced on Ben. The teenage boy just smirked and leaned back, letting his fingers hit the water.

Lightning streaked through the liquid, turning it a brilliant green color. Electricity fizzled around the Vulpimancers, and they screamed in pain as their nerves were suddenly lit ablaze. Smoke wafted from their fur, mixing with the pungent scent of the swamp.

Ben retracted his hand, and the Vulpimancers collapsed, sending waves crashing towards him as they hit the bottom of the swamp. Ben quickly jumped off the rock and swam away from the scene, running away as soon as he hit dry land.

What. The hell. Was that.

Survival.

That was murder, Ventus said sharply.

Like you're one to talk, Ben scoffed.

He knew he was right. This was the Null Void, a prison for some of the universe's worst criminals. Sure, it might have been home for refugees, but it was still a horrid wasteland in his eyes. He hadn't had a moment's rest since he arrived, constantly fighting monsters left and right. His main trump card was back in Bellwood, along with his hand.

For however long Ben was in here, he had to trust his survival instinct. He simply didn't have a choice.

So, yeah, Ben's got serious signs of PTSD, which I hoped to convey here. I mean, we know Ben's smart when it comes to getting himself out of sticky situations, but in this case he's panicking. Normally he's got the Omnitrix, but he doesn't right now, so he's trying to mimic the Pride in a way- get rid of the problem so it can't hurt you later. It's not his usual MO, but he's not in a healthy state of mind right now.

So, thoughts anyone?